'Military Lessons of the Arab Rebellion in Palestine 1936' [‎47r] (98/294)

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CHAPTER 9
TRANSPORT
GENERAL
To enaole troops oo get to grips with a cautious and elusive eneiny
fighting in his native hills a nigh degree of mobility was of the first
impoi tance, and two main factors contributed towards its attainment*
HiXtensive^ services of fast mechanical transport gave the Government forces
a strategic mobility which was denied to their opponentsj while the
provision of pack animal transport^ coupled with a good standard of
physical fitness, succeeded in reducing the natural advantages enjoyed
by the enemy in moving across difficult roadless country. M.T.
furnished a means of moving reserves very rapidly to points within
confer table marching distance of intended scenes of action and thus
enabled economy of force to be effected; while pack transport, by
avoiding any overloading of the soldier, brought him nea.rer to the
standard of his lightly •equipped opponent and freed him for a day or two
at least from dependence upon a line of communication. The part played
by Transport therefore was so grear as to justify its consideration in
s cmc oat ail. But before doing so it is worth recording that the opera
tions provided yet another demonstration that the mobility provided~by
physical fitness was w r hat counted in the end, and no transport facili
ties could compensate for its absence. In fact it was only too clear
that where M.T. was being very widely used greater care than ever was
necessary to ensure that the cross-country performance of the soldier
on foot did not deteriorate. It is perhaps too often assumed as a
matter of course that a native hillman in his own country is more than
a match in speed for the British soldier: in Palestine this was found
to be true in the initial stages of an advance, but the Arab’s staying
power is poor and if followed up resolutely it was found that a point
was soon reached where a well-trained infantryman used to hill work would
start to overtake him. The moral effect of this discovery upon both
sides can well be appreciated.
EMPLOYMENT OF MECHANICAL TRANSPORT
Roads and Tracks
A fairly extensive network of main roads existed in all parts of
the country lying to the North of Jerusalem; and all roads marked
on Map No.l are main roads. They are available in all weathers for
all types of motor vehicles: surf’aces are metalled throughout and
gradients w r ell engineered, though for most of their length the roads
wind their way through steep hill country where good driving and high
engine power is required. The second-class roads with a few exceptions
run through generally level districts: their surface is either hard
earth or sand with a stony bottom and in summer they are passable to all
vehicles up to 2-tons. Tracks are plentiful everywhere and in summer
will often take M.T. vehicles which have a good cross-country performance,
especially if fitted with sand tyres. In the hills it was invariably
found, even on foot, that however devious the tracks might appear they
provided the quickest routes and were always preferable to any direct
course on a compass bearing.